Welcome Home Tamir

Sequel To "Little Orphan Sandy" And "The Last Lullaby"

By Karen

Prologue

Somewhere Down The Road

With my head lowered sadly, I walked the dark, dimly lit streets of Agrabah, making my way home. "Home?" Now why did I call it that?. I have never had a real home, and I doubted that I ever would. The old underground ruins I was living in now were really no different then the orphanage I had left behind as a child. It was not home, just a building.

The grand banquet celebrating the engagement of the princess Jasmine to her fiancee, Aladdin, had been nothing less then spectacular. There was delicious exotic foods and delicacies from faraway lands, extravagant decorations throughout the royal palace, and the guests had been wearing the finest silk and linen, sporting dazzling gold and silver jewelry, with the largest baubles and finest cut stones I had ever seen... So why was I feeling so miserable? And why had I left that wonderful party just to walk the filthy streets on my way back to that cold, underground tomb I so jokingly called my home?... Bad memories perhaps, or maybe envy... It might even be both...

It had all happened so fast... My meeting Aladdin, developing that silly school girl crush on him, discovering the ancient secrets of the Witches of the Sand, and trying to use them and my newfound powers to make Aladdin fall in love with me instead of Jasmine... But I finally gave up once I realized that even with my powers which were slowly developing and becoming stronger, and even with my childish stubbornness that has helped me to survive all those years on the streets, I could never change the fact that he would always love her... This became easier to accept once I admitted to myself that I only wanted Aladdin out of loneliness, and not love...

I don't know why I was deluding myself in the first place. Jasmine is the princess of Agrabah, with pure royal blood flowing in her veins, and I am only a worthless orphaned street rat. She is beautiful and well dressed, while I am plain, homely, and wear ragged hand me down boy's clothes. She is intelligent as well as educated, and I don't know anything but what I've been taught on the streets and what I've read in the ancient scrolls of the witches of the sand. Before Jasmine was engaged to Aladdin, she was considered a prize, and sought after by many handsome and wealthy young suitors, most of them princes. I on the other hand, am also considered a prize... by the authorities!. And so far, the only men chasing after me are the sultan's guards!. Of course anyone in their right mind would loose their heart to Jasmine immediately!. What was I thinking, trying to get Aladdin to love me instead of her?. Love, I had come to learn, was a privilege reserved only for a special few who earned it. It was for dashing, legendary heroes like Aladdin, or beautiful, perfect princesses like Jasmine. No, love was not for me, and noone was ever going to want to love me. Those were lessons I should have learned a long time ago when my mother abandoned me at the orphanage. Thank goodness that this whole business with Aladdin has helped to remind me!.

Despite what I had done to them in the past, Aladdin and Jasmine had told me that I could always be their friend. Friend, that was all. Sometimes they visited me, bringing their friends the genie, carpet, Abu and Iago with them, and once or twice they had invited me to the palace for special occasions, such as the engagement banquet, but I was never a part of their lives like their other friends were. I was just someone they remembered once in a while.

Of course the happy couple spoke to me during the banquet, but I could tell from the way they were holding hands, and staring dreamily into each other's eyes, that I never really had their full attention. They were so in love, and seemed so lost in their own happiness. I remembered gazing around the banquet hall at the guests. It looked like everyone there had brought someone with them, a husband, a wife, a lover. I found myself looking enviously at the wealthy families that had been invited. Some of them had even brought their children with them to the banquet. Smiling children, loving parents, devoted husbands and wives, lovers, they all seemed so happy and content with their lives. Perhaps that's why I left the party early... to get away from all of those happy, content, smiling people that made me feel so alone...

"Now, that's enough!," I scolded myself. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself, girl. At least you have their friendship, and at least you're not in the dungeon for what you've tried to do to them."

I turned a corner, and headed down into the underground palace... Lighting a torch, I made my way through the ruins, entering a small room... I had an oven propped up, a small table and a few ragged pillows. On some handmade shelves there were a number of scrolls, some containing simple recipes for food, others containing magical spells and incantations. I had found these scrolls when I came upon this place. They were the ancient teachings of the Witches of the Sand. I had used some of these spells in the past, and they had worked to a certain degree... but, as time went by, I realized that I wanted little to do with magic, spells, or witchcraft anymore...

I gazed around the room... So much had happened to me since I had found this place... There were so many bad memories here... Sadly, I wandered over to the corner of the room where I kept a half a dozen or so ragged pillows for my bed. I laid down, hoping that some sleep might separate me from my unhappiness for a while. Instead I just lay there, staring at nothing, tears running down my cheeks as I struggled not to remember my past. But those memories where always there, and they were haunting me more then ever tonight... My mother probably didn't want a child, just another unwelcome mouth to feed, so she left me to the mercies of that witch who called herself an orphanage director, condemning me to this life of loneliness, to this never ending search for love, which of course was just a childish dream... When I was close to thirteen, I ran away from the orphanage to escape being taken to some rich man's harem and losing what little pride and dignity I still had left... Little did I know that I would cause the death of the one friend I had there, a sickly little girl named Aisha, and to this day I still hate myself for it... When I arrived in Agrabah, I was sure that things would go better for me... But my life here was little better then it had been at the orphanage. Still I was forced to steal food and money from other people to keep myself alive, still I had noone who cared two dinari about me, or even noticed me. No, that was not entirely true. Aladdin and Jasmine noticed me once in a blue moon, and they have helped me a number of times... Once, when I was still new in Agrabah, I was captured by a wicked man and taken to his kingdom to be a slave to his apprentice... I don't remember much about him except that he was only a few years older then me, hardly more then a young boy... I thought he might alert his master when I managed to run away from that place, but he didn't. In fact he all but helped me to escape, in a way... And then there was Aisha of course...

But Aladdin and Jasmine were formally engaged now, and would probably want nothing to do with me once they were married and ruling the kingdom... That mysterious boy was far away, and in a place that existed only in my memories and nightmares... I wasn't even sure if he had been real, or just some dream... And Aisha... poor little Aisha... She was gone, gone! Because of my stupidity and selfishness!.

Shaking my head, I sat up, unable to sleep. Remembering that I was still wearing the silken pink and white dress that Jasmine had leant me for the banquet, I slipped out of it and changed into my ragged shirt, vest and trousers. There was something familiar, and even comforting, about these old, worn out clothes, I thought...

Taking an old feather pen, I snatched up a blank scroll and began to write...

Aladdin And Jasmine

Thanks for inviting me to your engagement banquet tonight. I'm sorry to have left so early. Hope you're not offended, it really had nothing to do with you.

By the time you read this, I'll probably have already left Agrabah. I've got allot of reasons I can't explain. I just want to apologize for everything. For lying to your faces, going behind your backs, and mostly for trying to split you up.

I'm also returning that dress you lent me. I know you said I could keep it, but I don't like to take charity. Thanks anyway though.

I'm leaving Agrabah tonight. I don't belong here anymore, but I'll never forget you and how nice you both were to me. Maybe I'll see you all again someday. Congratulations again on your engagement. I'm glad I wasn't able to stop it with all the trouble I've caused you.

Your friend, always,

Sadira

I looked the letter over, satisfied that my decision to leave Agrabah was the right one. I carefully folded up Jasmine's dress and left the letter on top of it. I knew they wouldn't be to bothered by my leaving, in fact I was sure that they would be as glad as I was. After all, what woman could honestly say she was comfortable being chummy with the same girl who had tried on several occasions to take her beloved fiancee away from her?. And what man could possibly be at ease around the same girl who had tried to gain control over him and his emotions?.

Grabbing an old traveling cloak that I had found in the alleyway one time and washed up, I made my way out of the palace ruins and out into the night... As I walked through the city I gazed around at the familiar buildings, hovels and alleyways that made up the larger part of Agrabah... It seemed like ages since I had been a stranger on these streets... As I left the city and started into the desert, a sudden rush of fear crept over me. What if I couldn't find a place to stay and live? What if I couldn't find anyone who would show me the same consideration as Aladdin and Jasmine had done? What if this was all just a big mistake?... Maybe I should go back...

"No," I finally decided. "There's no back... Only forward."

The rain had stopped and the clouds slowly rolled away, revealing the stars and the radiant crescent moon, washed clean by the recent shower... Lifting my head, I gazed up at them, forgetting that the reason I had hid my face in the first place was to conceal the fact that I was on the verge of showing tears, something I had done only once before...

"Master crying?..." came a hoarse, but sympathetic voice...

"No, Xerxes," I hissed through clenched teeth. "I never cry!."

"But master lose his power... Thought master always cried when lose things?... Like when he lose sister..."

"Shut up!," I screamed, grabbing him by his mouth and throwing him roughly to the cold ground. "I thought I forbade you ever to speak of that, you worm?!."

"Sorry, sorry," the eal murmured, cowering at my raised fist. It might not have any magic left in it, but it could do an awful lot of damage to a creature his size.

"Go away, Xerxes!," I commanded him. "Just go away. I want to be alone now."

Obediently, my familiar scurried away into the ruins of my old home, the citadel... No, it had never really been a home before, but now it looked, and felt, like less of a home, more then ever now...

It had only been two days since everything had been destroyed, thanks to that treacherous spirit in the Book of Khartoum and that insufferable street rat, Aladdin... Aladdin!. Yes, he was the cause of all this. From day one he had been standing in my way of taking over the kingdoms of the seven deserts. This incident was just another example of his meddling, although this time I had lost much more then my pride and my dignity from battling with him... I had lost the most valuable thing I could ever own. I had lost the thing I had sacrificed so much for, the thing that had caused me years of endless suffering and grief... My power!. Almost five years ago I had taken that magic gauntlet, not caring what the consequences would be, not caring that I had to give the flesh off my own right arm for the power. But my arm was a mere trinket compared to what else I had lost that night...

I suppose it ran in the family. When I was an infant, my mother gave her own life to save mine. Years later, my sister, the sister I hardly even got a chance to know before she was taken away from me, like everything else in my life, would make the same kind of sacrifice... But what good were those sacrifices now?. Here I was, cold, hungry, my fine robes in tatters and my kingdom destroyed. My power was gone, and all I had to show for it was... was... I took off the glove... This, I thought as I stared down at my skeletal hand in pure hatred. Without my power, without my kingdom, I had nothing. I was just an ugly freak, condemned to wander the seven deserts, begging and stealing to keep myself alive. Why, now I was no different then that worthless, no account street rat, Aladdin. No, as a matter of fact, I was much worse off. At least Aladdin had his magic carpet and his powerful genie. At least he had his lovely, wealthy princess to see to his every need. I on the other hand, had nothing and nobody. In fact, the only person who had come close to being a part of my life was a little girl... My former master had brought her in from the streets of Agrabah to train as a new servant or apprentice... but I let her escape in the end... I doubted I would ever see her again... and I probably wouldn't even recognize her if I did... By now she was either dead, or, in one way or another, a part of someone else's life... I wasn't even sure if she had been real, or just some dream I had had...

"It's not fair!," I muttered, burying my face in my arms. "I've lost everything!. It's just not fair!."

"No, nothing ever is, I'm afraid."

I spun around, startled at the new voice. Standing almost beside me, was an old, blind man... He looked somewhat familiar...

"I... I remember you," I said. "You're... You're... You're the man I saw the night I conquered The Land Of The Black Sands..."

He nodded. "Yes."

Quickly, I wiped the tear stains off my face, embarrassed. "What do you want, old man?. Unless you can give me my power and my kingdom back, you'd better go away."

He shook his head. "Of course I cannot give you back your power. That was what started you along this self destructive path in the first place. You should be grateful you lost the magic in the glove, for you would not have lasted another year with it."

"Grateful?!," I scoffed. "Grateful for this?!." I revealed my hideous arm. "At least having the gauntlets power made this halfway bearable... but what will I do now?."

"That is your own affair," the old man answered gently. "But I will give you the one kind of help you are still able to receive... Look."

I looked down at myself... and gasped!. For instead of the once fine robes, that had become dirty and tattered from the last battle with Aladdin, I now wore ragged, patched trousers and a faded shirt with a belt, just like common everyday peasants would wear!.

"Huh?." I glared at him. "What's going on?."

He gave no answer, instead he raised his hand... Almost instantly I felt a strange drowsiness come over me... I fell on my hands and knees to the ground...

"By... Allah..." I whispered... It was becoming a struggle just to keep my eyes open... "What's... happening... to..." but I could not even finish my sentence before my world grew dimmer and dimmer, finally becoming a sea of darkness...

Fasir frowned as he looked with pity at the sleeping former sorcerer... Usually he did not choose to interfere in a mortal's life like this, but this time there was no other alternative...

"Poor boy," he said softly. "You have created a dark, cold, and unhappy life here for yourself. Therefore, I have no choice but to give you a chance to start a new life..."

He raised his hand once again, and a glow of light enveloped Mozenrath's unconscious form... Then, in a blinding flash, the young former Lord of The Land Of The Black Sands was gone...

Fasir sighed. "When you wake you will be far away from here. You will have no memories of your past, nor will you remember what happened here. I'm afraid it is the only way..."

"Not so fast, old man," came a jeering voice. "Aren't you forgetting something, a teensy tiny detail perhaps?."

Slowly, Fasir turned to face the mysterious figure standing in the shadows. "And what might that be?."

"Your prophecy, you old fool!. When the boy loses his power, that's where I come in. I am the evil that was reborn from it."

"On the contory," he smiled. "I have not forgotten anything, but I think you have."

"Such as?..."

"My friend, you don't seem to remember the most important part of the prophecy. I never felt the need to explain it to him, but I think you should have known... after all, you are a part of him. You seem to think you can destroy him, just like you have always wanted to, now that he is helpless. But remember, you cannot touch the boy until he gets his memory back... and Allah knows how long it might be until then."

"That's not fair!. You tricked me, old man!," the dark figure whined.

"Perhaps..." Fasir chuckled softly. "Perhaps..."

So much pain and no good reason why
You've cried until the tears run dry
And nothing here can make you understand
The one thing that you held so dear
Is slipping from your hands

And you say...
Why, why, why
Does it go this way?
Why, why, why
And all I can say is...

Somewhere down the road
There'll be answers to your questions
Somewhere down the road
Though we cannot see it now
Somewhere down the road you will find mighty arms reaching for you
And they will hold the answers at the end of the road

Yesterday I thought I'd seen it all
I thought I'd climbed the highest wall
Now I see the learning never ends
And all I know to do is keep on walking
Walking round the bend singing...

Somewhere down the road
There'll be answers to your questions
Somewhere down the road
Though we cannot see it now
Somewhere down the road you will find mighty arms reaching for you
And they will hold the answers at the end of the road

Why, why, why
Does it go this way?
Why, why, why
And all I can say is...

Somewhere down the road
There'll be answers to your questions
Somewhere down the road
Though we cannot see it now
Somewhere down the road you will find mighty arms reaching for you
And they will hold the answers at the end of the road

Why, why, why
Does it go this way?
Why, why, why
And all I can say...
All I know to say now is...

Somewhere down the road
There'll be answers to your questions
Somewhere down the road
Though we cannot see it now
Somewhere down the road you will find mighty arms reaching for you
And they will hold the answers at the end of the road

("Somewhere Down The Road" from "The Prince Of Egypt" Nashville)